I like these Mahamudra quotes on non-meditation, deeply resonates:

Savari:

For a realized mind the duality
Of meditation and meditator does not exist.
Just as space cannot perceive itself as an object,
So emptiness cannot meditate on itself
In a state of nondual awareness
The diverse perceptions blend uninterruptedly.
Like milk and water, into the one flavor great bliss.

Virupa:

No duality of meditation and meditator exists
In the expanse of the mind's instrinsic reality
Which is empty of any identity.

Virupa:

By detaching itself from the duality of observation and observer,
The mind achieves self-liberation from division;
By thus smashing the [contrived] practitioner
The mind frees itself from striving and seeking;
By discarding the [concern for the] fruit of inner development,
The meditator unshackles himself from hope and fear;
By eliminating the [sense of the] "self" or the "I,"
The mind emerges victorious in its battles against inner adversaries;
By dismantling the clinging to substance,
The meditator will gain liberation from both samsara and nirvana.

Saraha:

One will not depart from the mode of oneness,
If one understands all these actions
To be an extension of the mind -
Seeing, hearing, touching, and remembering,
Eating and smelling,
Wandering, walking, and sitting,
Talking and gossiping.

Virupa:

For one who transcends the duality of knowledge and knower
There is neither discrimination nor partiality;
For one who attains pure evenness
There is no duality of separation and integration;
For one who has realized this
There is nothing to ask of others;
For one who perceives all diverse forms as dharmakaya
There is no thought of accepting or abandoning;
For one who has gone beyond the duality of meditation and no meditation
There is no stain of deluded perception.
This [state] does not depends on sensory appearances or no appearances;
Being detached from all conceptual images,
It is free from any concerns for action and actor;
It has turned away from yearnings, hope, or fear.

And:

Where mind detaches itself from discrimination
There is neither defilement nor doubt;
Where mind perceives intrinsic reality directly
There is no duality of knowledge and knower.

Je Gampopa:

Where there is no nurturing of mindfulness, there is no fear of distraction;
Where there is no separation between absorption and postabsorption, there is no intermediate state;
Where there are diverse perceptions in the expanse of reality, there is neither acceptance nor abandonment;
Where there are designations of everything, there is an awareness of the falsity of such assumptions.

Savari:

in the discipline of quiescent Mahamudra
There is nothing to meditate on, not even an atom.
Do not meditate, for the perfect meditation
Is to remain inseparable
From the state of nonmeditation.

Kalachakra and Guhyasamaja:

Because it is devoid of any innate substance
Meditation does not exist.
The act of meditation is not meditation;
Because it is neither substance nor nothingness,
Meditation cannot be a conceivable reality.

Je Shang:

When the state of nonmeditation dawns,
Inmost awareness is separated from its support.
The yogin will gain freedom from the acts of meditation,
Will eliminate the meditator in himself,
And will realize the expanse of reality.

(Excerpts from Mahamudra the Moonlight: Quintessence of Mind and meditation by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal)
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7 Responses
  1. Anonymous Says:

    Those traditions which emphasize on opening the heart,whats the difference with anatta and sunnyata?


  2. Soh Says:

    Care to expand what you mean by "opening the heart"?


  3. Anonymous Says:

    Sufism ,for example. They emphasized so much on the qualities of love.


  4. Anonymous Says:

    Tzu chi ,originated frm taiwan, for eg.. despite all its outer activities , internally it results in opening the individual participants heart through cultivating love,caring and compassion.It seems you and thusness ,judging frm this website ,doesnt put priority on the 'heart'.Even if you say its important to develop love and compassion,but frm yr emphasis over and over again on insight,seeing,anatta etc...its already evident the ' heart' is of secondary importance .....


  5. Soh Says:

    If you're talking about the cultivation of love, compassion and caring, it is found in all Buddhist traditions -- even the Theravada tradition teaches Metta practice.

    It is not my main practice therefore I seldom talk about it, but Thusness has said that it is important and is the best way to actualize anatta.


  6. Soh Says:

    Wisdom (insight into anatta and emptiness) is not compassion and compassion is not wisdom, but both are important.


  7. Soh Says:

    The sole cultivation of metta and compassion, which are part of the four brahma viharas, can lead to jhanas and rebirth in the brahma (heavenly) realms, but not liberation. They are however very wholesome qualities to be cultivated and complemented with the cultivation of wisdom.